Wind, but no power; Early February is new deadline for turbine project
Mesabi Daily News|Charles Ramsay|December 20, 2008
The 10 wind turbines at the Taconite Ridge wind farm will probably still be motionless until early February, a company spokesperson said Thursday. Nine of the ten wind turbines now are having repairs done to blades, instead of just five, that was reported earlier. The completion date for repairs has been pushed back from mid-January, said Amy Rutledge, Minnesota Power communications manager.
The 10 wind turbines at the Taconite Ridge wind farm will probably still be motionless until early February, a company spokesperson said Thursday. Nine of the ten wind turbines now are having repairs done to blades, instead of just five, that was reported earlier. The completion date for repairs has been pushed back from mid-January, said Amy Rutledge, Minnesota Power communications manager.
The 10 wind turbines at the Taconite Ridge wind farm will probably still be motionless until early February, a company spokesperson said Thursday.
Nine of the ten wind turbines now are having repairs done to blades, instead of just five, that was reported earlier. The completion date for repairs has been pushed back from mid-January, said Amy Rutledge, Minnesota Power communications manager.
A second crane is being moved in to help in lifting the 153-feet-long, 15-ton blades off the turbines. Each turbine has three blades.
"It is a big project to take these blades down," she said.
The later completion date is due to more blade repairs, and "wind issues,'' as the weather has been rough lately in bringing the blades down, Rutledge …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]The 10 wind turbines at the Taconite Ridge wind farm will probably still be motionless until early February, a company spokesperson said Thursday.
Nine of the ten wind turbines now are having repairs done to blades, instead of just five, that was reported earlier. The completion date for repairs has been pushed back from mid-January, said Amy Rutledge, Minnesota Power communications manager.
A second crane is being moved in to help in lifting the 153-feet-long, 15-ton blades off the turbines. Each turbine has three blades.
"It is a big project to take these blades down," she said.
The later completion date is due to more blade repairs, and "wind issues,'' as the weather has been rough lately in bringing the blades down, Rutledge said.
There is no cost to the company or customers, as "it's under warranty," she added.
Clipper Wind Power of California, the manufacturer, is fixing the defects in the blades it made for the project. General contractor for the repairs is IMS Construction, which has a branch office in Eveleth.
When the fiberglass blades are made, the layers need to lie smoothly so nothing rises to the surface. Repairs include either sanding a blade down, and laminating it; with others, perhaps placing a premade patch on.
"It's unfortunate," Rutledge said. There are always start-up issues on a major project, but "we're glad it happened now, when it is under warranty."
The $50 million wind farm, on U.S. Steel-Minntac property, was completed this past summer. It was part of Minnesota Power's efforts to meet a Minnesota mandate of 25 percent of energy from renewable sources by the year 2025.
Each wind turbine, when operating at 100 percent, can generate up to 2.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to light up 8,000 homes annually.
Company spokespersons have said in the past that supplementary power that is generated by wind, which goes to a grid, usually produces power about 20-25 percent of the time.